Two momentous events occurred in his life, one after the other and it is from these, Yuvraj Singh, the man admired by millions in India, emerged!
Everything about Yuvraj’s life is spectacular.
He debuted for India in 2000 as a nineteen year old and in 2011 the Indian national cricket team won the World cup. The Player of the Tournament in the ICC World Cup was Yuvraj Singh. That same year he faced the greatest battle of his life the fight against Mediastinal Seminoma, a malignant germ cell tumour located between his lungs.
A childhood full of running, falling and getting up; an adult hood full of pushing limits, jumping hurdles and always winning! Cancer could never defeat Yuvraj Singh. Throughout the entire ordeal what gave him strength was the confidence he had in his ability to overcome difficulties, the same confidence which led to winning the world cup.
Yuvraj says when he first heard that he had cancer it was like a fist in the gut. His first thought was “I have just won the world cup. How can I have cancer?”
From that moment it was a fight to win. Yuvraj did everything he could do to keep up a positive outlook while his doctor Dr Einhorn, IU Simon Cancer Centre, Indianapolis, who has treated more athletes suffering from cancer than anyone else, took over his treatment. His mother, his family and friends were a constant source of support and encouragement for him.
When asked to describe how fighting cancer was, Yuvraj’s reply was “It was like facing the toughest bowling of my life in the worst possible conditions.” The aggressive southpaw, whose name is a legend in cricket, has never been stopped by the toughest bowling. He always hit a six. And as for cancer, he beat it!
Today Yuvraj Singh is back and the man who is back is an Indian cricketer, World cup player of the tournament and cancer survivor. For him his happiness is cricket and his motivation is ‘Hope’ for without it there is no life.
His most motivational statement is “Look at me. Cancer doesn’t mean that you’re going to die. The stigma of cancer perhaps can defeat a person than cancer itself.”
Yuvraj’s battle with cancer showed him that there is a silver lining in every dark cloud. Cancer, like other diseases can be cured, if diagnosed early and treated correctly.
But the fact remains that the underprivileged may have to face cancer without much care or help. It is this thought that led him to start YouWeCan, an initiative by Yuvraj Singh Foundation. Its aim is to devote itself entirely for early detection of cancer, set up mobile cancer detection units in rural India for free screenings for one and all because no one should be left to fight cancer alone.